Looking back, leaning in...
96 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. Philippians 3:13 CEB
On election day 2017 I headed out to do my civic duty with dread in my heart. During the previous presidential election two seemingly lovely ladies with opposing political perspectives caused a scene and it just killed my spirit. Heading back to the polling precinct felt like returning to a crime scene. To be clear, it was mainly one of the two that acted up. One woman was a lovely retired teacher from my children’s school – she was handing out sample ballots for one political party. She was as sweet and calm and deferential as she had always been as a teacher. Top drawer classy lady. The other, ahem, well – this happened.
“May I hand you a sample ballot?” the volunteer inquires to a statuesque woman with expertly coiffed piles of white hair wearing a killer pair of red shoes and a St. John’s suit that looked fresh off the Nordstrom’s full price rack. In silence, Red heels grabs the ballot, rips it to shreds and throws it on the ground, stomps her foot (not kidding), and harrumphs at the retired teacher lady. She folds her arms. She glares. She sighs. She calls the volunteer all sorts of names, one of which I had to google to understand. She was WAY older than me – maybe 100? I thought perhaps she should have had more skill sets than she displayed. But she had excellent balance in those shoes.
I was frozen in my spot, thinking, “Surely she had other options.” For example, how about..
“No thank you, I am clear on my voting preferences.” OR “Hell no!” OR
“Sure,” takes the sample ballot, holds it until she gets to the nearest trash can and then deposits it where she believes it belongs. OR
“I don’t need the ballot, but I am curious. Could you tell me why you are out here on this cold, wet, rainy day to support this platform? I won’t be voting for them, but I am really interested in hearing your perspective.”
When did it get so bad that little old ladies no longer led the way in decorum, wisdom and kindness? That’s my pity-party sentence – now, let’s get down to changing the world one small next right step at a time.
To be continued…
